Residents of the Krasnodar Territory are coming to Anapa to rescue birds that arrived covered in oil after the tanker crash in the Kerch Strait.
Fuel oil polluted the mail 50 kilometers of the coast in the Krasnodar Territory, the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia reported. The monitoring area has been expanded to 70 kilometers.
Local residents and volunteers are rescuing the birds soiled in fuel oil, several centers have been organized to save them, say ASTRA volunteers.
“Right now we are organizing a washing place at the car wash, I will help people deliver them to the washing headquarters. The headquarters is now on Chernomorskaya str., 2, In Vityazevo. Many birds are already found dead,” said Alexander, a volunteer at Astra.
Residents of other settlements come to Anapa to help volunteers. They say that now detergents for dishes, rags, gloves, sorbent, tape, syringe, diapers, boxes and respirators are needed to save birds. Volunteers wash the birds, give them sorbents to cleanse the body, dry them and transfer them to a veterinarian or to a rehabilitation center
Earlier Astra spoke with volunteers who have been cleaning the beach in Anapa all day. They claim that at least in their city, oil products from the beach were killed only by them and local Cossacks-compatriots of the Ministry of Emergency Situations did not help them.
On December 15, two Russian tankers with petroleum products — Volgoneft-212 and Volgoneft-239 – were wrecked in the Kerch Strait due to a storm. Each of the tankers, according to the data, transported about four thousand tons of fuel oil.
Fuel oil contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, many of which are proven carcinogens. Inhalation of fuel oil vapor causes irritation of the respiratory tract, cough, shortness of breath and can lead to the development of bronchitis, pneumonia and other respiratory diseases. Particles of fuel oil entering the lungs can cause fibrosis and other chronic diseases. Direct contact with fuel oil causes dermatitis, eczema and other skin diseases. Some components of the ointment have neurotoxic properties that affect the nervous system. This can manifest itself in headaches, dizziness, weakness and other neurological symptoms.
The spill of petroleum products in the Kerch Strait after the tanker crash threatens a new environmental disaster, previously announced by Greenpeace.
